Spring has sprung ( getting out of limbo mode)

Hello , Welcome .....

I have been wanting to get back here and blog some wonderful exciting news....

But well ,,,,, we are still waiting for conformation ,to see if we are on our way to owning our very own cottage, ( mortgagee sale = searches ontop of searches,Rural zoning means we could have to come up with 30% of deposit so trying to get it classed as rural residential as is has town water and sewer,,,and getting a home loan from a bank = waiting time for more searches) , and I didn't want to jinks our little cottage dream from coming true,,,, But you see its been over a months since we looked at, put in a contract and a deposit down on this ( down v here v ) shabby old cottage.....

Potential Potential Potential in my eyes.

and I am excited and anxious and wanted to make sure it was ours before i shared the news,,, I have been dreaming of our very own cottage , renting has its limits when you love to renovate and decorate as much as I do.... we have done up a house on the gold coast and also designed and built a little cottage for our eldest daughter when she was having a little family of her own.... plus we totally revamped our 40 foot motor home.. so I have been having a few withdrawals from renovating and making this shabbiest of old cottages into a home would give us some life back into our everyday...

Yep sure I have made Avondale cottage our home and we have painted a few walls and planted a garden, but its not the same,, its not OURS.... anyways we hope to know for sure if this ^^^^ cottage will be our very own...hopefully this week.... I am sure to scream it with joy from the roof tops for all to hear my utmost joy if all turns out and she is :). If not , well I am ready to except that it's the universe telling us all was not well and it was not for us x ..I just want to know..

 On with news that is in the here and now :)..

 I have been feeling in a state of ,,, lets call it limbo,, waiting for the sale to go through, waiting on the weather to be warmer, waiting on my days of going down to the gold coast and looking after my wonderful grand babies for 10 days to be done, waiting , waiting... really I think its just been an excuse I've used because I've been lazy, a little depressed maybe... I am not sure but I needed to get out of the slum feeling I had been in,, I needed to get off my butt, feel grateful for the wonderful opportunities my every day brings and just bloom where I am planted in the here and now!!! So I have made myself get up and out and about and with that comes the start of a few little make over projects...
I had been on the search for bentwood chairs as I love the old world cottage look of them,, being on a tight budget ( saving for a home and all) I had not yet found any within my budget....
But with a little on a whim call into the local op shop I came across these not sure of what make but totally adorable chairs,,,,I promptly swung these up and over my shoulders when I seen them and the wonderful price tag attached.
Yes Yes yes that is $5 for the Pair ;)....

A good scrub has the not so good for sitting on one ending up in the bathroom for now :) ,, with the new spring bringing in the sunshine my mini carnation is happily sitting here too...

A $3 op shop find basket holds cushions from the lounge that the mister Man has taught Pippin to push off ( He thinks cushions are a waist of bum seat space.... I love cushions, I do seem to have a collection ... so a constant joke in our cottage.... I find them in all sorts of strange places!!) I do like them plopped in here though so all is well ;)..

It amazing what a few budget friendly op shop finds will do for the spirit :),,,,

Another thing I have been trying to do is eat,, and not only eat but eat well,, (yep in my recent limbo days I often forgot to eat,, or was that just to lazy to! didn't help the energy levels at all!!)

I do love food!! and I loved turning a simple meal into something a little special...I had lived by this saying "bread and water can so easily be turned into tea and toast" ... So today, I got myself up and set up a little lunch out on the veranda, it was lovely and didn't take much time at all to pop together..... we enjoyed simple food , sunshine and a chat.....

Well my lovelies,, some more offerings have come in from the garden so ill be off to get a wonderful nourishing meal on the table tonight :)

Thanks for popping in , and thank you for being here for me to share my days doings :) ,, it makes me more willing to get off my lazy bottom and bloom where I am planted , and share my blooming good life and finds and creations with ya'll oxoxoxox

Until next adventure
Take care
Kris
oxoxox

Dining room make over in our shabby old cottage.

From my little corner of the world to yours ;)

Hope your weekend has been bright and sparkly or warm and comfy :).....
I had a great, busy little weekend. A slapping of white paint here and a little fluffing there...
The dining room was getting a little on my dark side...

When we first arrived at Avondale cottage we had no furniture,Time to do some shopping
 The little side hutch was a $20 garage sale find, the black chairs from an op shop $5 each, we have 6,, and we found the table out in the shed.....
 I do love the mix matched cottage feel,,, But,,, this was to mix matched for me to leave it any longer.

It felt dingy and dull.....

I love all my little treasures , but they seemed to be getting lost in the dark....

I found this cup stand at the op shop for 50c , it was bright yellow and a bit wobbly... a little straightening and a spritz of white spray paint :) looking Oh so sweet now don't ya think....

 

We inherited this old hutch from the previous tenant. :)
She is a sturdy old girl and just needed a little tlc .....

So a good scrub and a light sanding,,, then out came the white paint and off I went :)
first coat on..

 

I am not sure what my style is now, could call it shabby chic, or elegantly shabby cottage or even vintage chic???,,,,Whatever it is I have always been a fan of white furniture, I love how you can mix old with new pieces and somehow they fit together ,,, I love how I can change the whole look of a room by bringing in different accent colours, could even go coastal cottage by bringing in a few shells, drift wood and palm tree's  (when we lived on the Gold Coast my sons room was a beach hut ;) His surf board on the wall, white cane and timber furniture with sandy colour walls and blue accents on his bed linen ....

Anyways back to Avondale cottage dining room.....
All done and looking bright and sparkly, lifting my mood......
A change is as good as a holiday don't they say ;)

The old girl looking oh so sweet in her new white coat.

Its not the biggest, or best make over... but for me its made the world of difference.

Thanks for stopping by

Until next adventure

Take care

Kris

xxxx

Family and Friends, a day to remember.

Hello,, hope all is well in your world,,
Yesterday Hubby and I packed up a picnic and took a drive to the Gold Coast to see our beautiful children, followed by an afternoon tea stop at our wonderful friends and then up to Brisbane to pick up an out door setting we won on eBay :)

The day started off well with the picnic packed and the animals settled for the day.. we decided to have a pup free day and it was the first time we left Pippin and Tiara home alone,,,,

not to mention two little kittens and a mother cat that has just been de-sexed and had to be separated from said kittens. (she was happy enough to be left out side)..
 Look at this face,,, surely no wrong could be done by this little one.... I had my reservations though,,, and it wasn't until we got in the car and up the road that I realized I had completely lost my mind... I had shut the two little kittens in the bathroom and left the door open to the dining room,,, Oh yes clever me,, that's where all my lovely old English china tea cups live,, sitting prettily out on the hutch for all to see... I then proceeded to have visions of kittens in tea cups having a smashing good time.. eeekkkk

pushing that aside, my mind wandered to the other fur babies .. did I shut the bedroom door?, did I put all electrical cords out of reach? Oh dear this was not a good idea!!!!!! again the visions came... walking into the lounge room and finding it looking like a snow field..Pip loves taking the stuffing out of things and Tiara is teething!!!! and well I do have a few cushions scattered around,,and,,,,
 OK enough,, out out out visions!!!.... all will be fine,, the kittens wont climb that high,, they are babies and babies sleep most of the day anyway, and Pip and Tiara had a long run and play around the yard,, Pip is an old boy now and likes his sleep and Tiara is still a baby and yes, yes babies sleep most of the time right!!

Breath in,, breath out,, all will be fine......
its then that I looked up... shivers run up my spine... Oh yes just my luck, a picnic in the rain perfect!!!.... STOP, just stop all this negativity,, did I get out of bed on the wrong side or what?,, my mind was in over drive,,,,, I gave myself  a good talking to,, the kittens and dogs are safe , they have water and food and a cool place to rest, let it go!!!!.... and as for this big black cloud looming over us,, well look,, there are blue bits and I am sure that just under one of those blue bits is our picnic area, we will pick the boy child grease monkey up from work on his lunch break and our angel baby girls will meet us at the picnic spot ( under that blue sky) and all will be well!!!!

and you know what,, :)) it was.... the clouds parted and the sky was the bluest blue and our beautiful children had the most perfect smiles....

The picnic of roast chicken and salad rolls with a side of fruit went down a treat, we chatted together,,  some awesome news :) and some not so awesome news :( was shared.. And I sat back and watched my sweet little family, "Just be". What ever challenges life throws our way we will tackle them "together" ... Seeing our children so close is a blessing I cherish xx

Well it was time for the grease monkey and the girls to get back to work , lots of cuddles and kisses all round and Hubby and I went off to visit friends...

Our friends are moving onto their property next week and although that is only four hours away we may not get over to see them for a while,so we just had to get over while they are a bit closer and catch up with them before they left for their 100 acre woods they will call home... we had a lovely couple of hours catching up and are planing a little trip to the new place for a visit...
oh and I just couldn't go past what the chickens have been calling home,,, how cute is this van.. I want to live in it :))

it was time to say our goodbyes and take a trip to the city to pick up the out door setting....

wow after driving on our little country roads , this place can be a little daunting.... but with the help of our nav man we found the unit and made our exchange of $52.50 for the outdoor setting with umbrella :)

Yes you heard it right ,,, a bargain price,, winning it at  $52.50. Table, chairs and umbrella included... here it is up this morning, we are going to give it a light sanding and a splash of white paint....

Oh and in case you were wondering ,,,,, we got home after dark to a very tidy and , Yes,, intact cottage and the fur babies jumping with glee to see us :)
we had a light tea of left overs , took the pups out for a walk in the cool night air and I even got the picnic dishes done ;) ..All is well in my world.....

                                          sharing my favourite quote for this week.....
"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."
~Mary Engelbreit

 

Until next adventure
Take care
xx Kris xx

Hello Sunshine!

Hope all is well and happy in your world x
Taking time here to smell the roses, appreciating the simple things in life, spring is such a wonderful time of year....

Our lovely cat had kittens 8 weeks ago , so yesterday we took her to be desexed and the wonderful vet couple fell in love with Pepper,, so have taken two of her kittens, that left us with 3,, a little fella up the road has adopted the only male , so we are down to two.. They are Manx and have the cutest little tufts of fur on their ears and a short n stumpy tail and the best loving nature.. One was born with a full tail and Hubby is still trying to talk me into keeping that one ( we shall see ;))
Pepper is the best hunter and out here at the cottage we have lots of little mice that like to party on, The father of the kittens Pudding ( aka Fat cat) is not a hunter... so maybe another one wont hurt ;))

A few little creations have been clicking away on the sewing machine, this is Candy Rose Creations Frilly fru fru apron.. perfect for those sweet spring afternoon tea parties. Or to just dance around in, like I do :)..

Today we are of on a little adventure down to the gold coast to have lunch with my wonderful son on his work break, we take a little picnic and sit in the park and chat, its lovely quality time we get to have with him, so I am a little excited about that..
More excitement ,, we are also popping into visit some lovely friend that are moving on from the coast to pursue a dream of living self sufficient living off the land. They have been living on a boat for the past 12 years , living on a bus/ motor home for the last 2 years and have now bought a property to park the bus on and live in it.... Wishing them all the best in their new adventure and well maybe one day we might just pull up in our motor home wanago and say howdy ;)).. Oh what a life xx
Our next little project is an out door setting we bought off eBay yesterday, we are going to pick it up tonight... a shabby old timber out door setting.... so excited for this little project,, I can just see it painted all white with its umbrella up and us sitting under it on a warm spring day.... stay tuned,, I am sure I shall share the progress of the out door setting ....

I Do hope your day is bright and sparkly..

Until next adventure
Take care
xx Kris xx

Hi from Avondale Cottage X

 Hello all, Hope you are all well and happy, I have been taking a little time out ( again....)

 There has been lots going on here at Avondale Cottage,,We have found a new home for our little foster goats, so glad we had the opportunity to bottle feed them and that our children and grandchildren had a chance to get up close and personal with them, I tried not to get to attached, but they are so cute it was hard to see them go.. on the other hand my gardens ( and the travelers on our road, as they kept getting out) are a little safer with them gone..

We went for a little road trip to Melbourne (Victoria) to visit family and pick up our new little girl Tiara Ella xx
Tiara is a 12week old Staffy,,

 We had a lovely time in Melbourne, and on the way home we drove through a snow storm near Goulburn NSW ( and this is spring!!!)

 Ooh Yes, it was truly surreal ,, sorry about the poor photo's but we had no chance to stop , This was taken at 4am we had a police escort in front of the truck and they closed the high way behind us.

 We arrived at Newcastle NSW early morning to a beautiful day , visiting more family.
Pip was having a little holiday with family and he met Tiara for the first time.

 He was a little shocked at first, being an only furchild n all but they are best of friends now xx

 Home again , home again jiggity jog, (south east Queensland),,, and now I have a furry little alarm clock that needs a wee walk at 5am every morning.... (I am feeling fine when getting up at this time every morning, but am starting to feel very tired around 10ish),,,
I have been getting my cuppa, my to do list book and sitting out on the verandah trying to get the day ahead in order.

 I wander around the yard as my fur babies have a wee walk and play, I play on my iPhone and take photo's to put on instagram... and hope I have the energy to get through the day without a nanny nap...

we have a little rest time in the sunshine..

and then I come inside for a little inspirational reading, and coffee to keep me awake.

 Then its back out for a wee walk and a play,,( don't ya just love the new doggy door ;))

and another cup of tea ;)

                                          
then back in here for a little tidying up ,,

 

 that's pretty much my days of late......and where this little blog comes in ;),, I need to get back into the flow of things , I want to blog , but have had nothing worth blogging,, So I shall find things to keep me busy, keep me awake and then blog about them ... Thanks so much for listening x

 Welcome Princess Tiara Ella, Life at Avondale cottage will be a great adventure xxx

All is well in my world, wishing you all the same...

Until next adventure
Take care
xx Kris xx

Shabby Kitchen table gets some loven ;)

Hello hello,, hope all is well in your world, Come and have a look at this :)
Have you ever been in love with a piece of furniture????
Well I have,, "am",,
We got this shabby old farm house table from a garage sale last weekend
As soon as hubby bought it in I fell in love....

                                           It had chippy paint and wobbly legs and was filthy,, but ya know when you can just see beyond that....

at first I was going to sand the top right back to bare wood and just give the legs a splash with the white paint.... but then....

as hubby started pulling her apart to repair....

the chippy and splodged paint started to grow on me.... well it was more than that ,, I just couldn't get past the character and what stories would be behind each scuff mark and dent...

the shape of the legs got me even more excited and I did a little happy dance when she was turned over to reveal the way she was held together,, oh yeah she had some age to her....

she got a good scrub with detol a bit of a tickle with the sander and wire brush to get all her flaky bits off.

and then it was a splash of clear lacquer to give a little luster back to her life and to seal her splodged paint work...

and she was moved into her new home...smack bang in the middle of the kitchen :)

at first I thought OH NO she is to big,, but after hubby and I walked around her ,, getting into cupboards and the like we decided she was the perfect size....

all cupboards,, the fridge and oven can open ,, we have plenty of room to move around .. ooh yeah I have an eat in kitchen with a shabby old farm house kitchen table ;))....

excited much hehe,, I have a place to sit and make up my weekly menu, flick through those cook books

and read my fave back to basics and simple living books and to just dance around and make it look pretty..

Hubby and I had tea sitting at our shabby old farm table in our shabby old kitchen and you know what,,,, the meal tasted better and hubby was in easy reach of the fridge for his Jam on fresh bread he likes to have after his meal ;)
( I got these chairs months ago for $2 each at an op-shop, still deciding what colour to paint them )

she is sanded one side more than the other,, but I think it makes her look like she has always been right here... I tend to do a lot more preparing on this side of the table and this is where I have been sitting while tea is cooking,, so its only natural that she would be worn more on this side ( well this is my story and I'm sticking to it hehe)....

 

Linking up with

scandi coast Home excess-baggage-linky-party

 

 

well my lovelies that's it from me today,, I have my sister flying in on monday and staying for a week for a little country cottage retreat time ;))

Hope you all have a great weekend and I will catch up with you soon.

Until next adventure

Take care

Kris

XXXX